After All this time
by Jacky-Cullen
Summary: Edward has had a crush on Bella since they were 11, but Bella leaves before he can tell her. After a series of unfortunate events they meet again in college. Can Edward make Bella see that they were meant to be together? Sometimes true love is blind.AH
1. Chapter 1

**Lyrical Melodrama Story Contest****  
Name of story: After All this Time  
Pen name: Jacky-Cullen  
Song story is inspired by: Blind  
Artist: Lifehouse  
Category: Newbie  
Main Pairing: Edward and Bella  
POV: EPOV**

**A/N: All known characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Thanks to my awesome beta soobcesseditsnotfunny.**

**Ten years ago **

Love sucks. My life sucks. Life was so much better when girls were just girls, but no, I had to grow up and start noticing girls. How I wish I could go back in time where my only troubles were if I had lost some of my crayons.

Everything started during sixth grade. Bella and I had been friends since the first grade, when I was the only person who talked to her when she came into the classroom because she was a new student. I had never noticed her beautiful brown eyes, or the way they sparkled when she was happy. I had never noticed her long, brown, curly hair or her gorgeous smile. That is until we started the sixth grade.

We had always been in the same classroom, so it was a big surprise when fate decided that Bella should be in a different class, away from me. We still hung out during lunch and recess, but it wasn't the same. I wanted to be with her all the time, but it just wasn't possible.

I also wanted to know how she felt about me, but I didn't know what to do or say. I spent most of the school year trying to figure out what to do, but I never actually did anything. One day I overheard a guy from Bella's classroom telling his friends that he was going to ask Bella to be his girlfriend. That's when I decided to go to my dad for help.

"Hey dad, can I talk to you?" I said while knocking on his home office door.

"Sure sport, what's on your mind?" He replied, putting down the newspaper he was reading.

I didn't know how to start, and I was kind of embarrassed to talk to him about this stuff.

"Well, I have this friend," I started, but was interrupted by his chuckling.

"What?" I asked him. I wanted him to take me seriously.

"No, nothing, please go on son," He replied and made his face all serious again.

"Ok, I have this friend," I paused to see if he was going to interrupt me again. When I saw that he was waiting for me to go on I continued, "And he has this girl best friend, who he suddenly likes, but he doesn't know if she likes him. He doesn't want to ruin their friendship by telling her, but he is desperate to know if she feels the same way. What do you think I should tell him?"

"Umm… I see, so this friend of yours has a crush on his best friend and wants to tell her, but doesn't want to get rejected," he said.

"Exactly, I mean what if she doesn't like me, I mean him, and then they can't be friends anymore because it will be all weird," I said, hoping he didn't catch my slip.

"The only way he can know if she likes him is to tell her," he started, "I would tell your friend to write this girl a letter explaining to her how he feels, that way it won't be as embarrassing for him if she doesn't feel the same way."

"That's a great idea dad," I said and I took off running towards my room. I would write Bella a letter and hope she felt about me, the same way I felt about her.

So I took my father's advice, and I wrote Bella the most heartfelt letter ever written. In it I explained how she was my best friend, and how she was always there for me, and that I would always be there for her. I also wrote about how pretty she was and how much I liked being around her. Once I finished I took an envelope from my mom's stationary and sealed it up and with my best handwriting wrote Bella on the front.

It was the last week of school, so I decided that it was the perfect time to give her the letter. If she didn't like me like I like her, then we would have three whole months to spend time apart, and maybe she would forget about it by the time school started again. But if she liked me, then we wouldn't have to be separated the whole time, and we could spend every day together.

My plan was perfect. That is until Bella decided to not talk to me anymore. I had taken the envelope with the letter to school, I was going to give it to her during recess, but Bella was acting strange, and she seemed to be really sad.

"Hey Bella!" I said to her when I saw her in the playground we used to hang out before the bell rung.

"Hi," she said, but it was barely above a whisper.

"What's wrong?" I had to ask, because she was usually laughing and playing around, but today she was just sitting there, with a frown on her face.

"Nothing, I have to go," she said, and with that took off running towards her classroom.

The same thing happened during lunch. I would ask her what was wrong, but she would answer that everything was ok and then she wouldn't say anything else.

The same thing happened the rest of the week. Bella wouldn't talk to anybody. She would go to school and go back home without saying one word, unless she was asked something by a teacher. She wouldn't answer the phone, and when I went to her house, her mom would always tell me that she was either busy or asleep or some other excuse. The light in her eyes was gone too. It was as if she was a zombie, still on earth but dead inside.

Finally on Friday, the last day of school, she talked to me. It wasn't a full conversation, like we used to have, but she did ask me to meet her at the park after school. She wouldn't tell me what she wanted to talk about, but I could sense that she was really nervous about whatever it was.

Immediately after school I went home to tell my mom that I was going to the park with Bella. I changed from my uniform and took the letter from my sock drawer where I had hidden it. I took my bike and rode toward the park. When I got there I saw Bella sitting on a swing.

"Hey," she said as she noticed me. Her eyes were full of tears, but she was working hard to keep them from spilling.

"Hey," I answered back.

"Edward," she started, but just then her tears fell down her face. I went to her and hugged her. It was hurting me to see her this way, but I still wanted to figure out what could be so bad that made her cry this way. After a couple of minutes, which seemed like an eternity to me, she calmed down enough to tell me what was on her mind.

"Edward, I'm sorry I've ignore you this whole week. It's just that you're my best friend and I didn't know how to tell you. I know that there is no excuse for what I've done, but I just don't want to move. What am I going to do without you?"

She spoke so fast I almost missed the part where she said she was moving.

"What are you talking about?" I had to ask. I was having a really hard time understanding the concept that Bella was moving away from here. Away from me.

"We are moving, Edward," She said, sobbing again, "my dad was offered a great job, and he couldn't refuse. We were just waiting for me to finish the school year here."

I was suddenly angry. She knew she was moving for god knows how long and she never told me? What kind of friend does that? She knew our time together was limited yet she never said anything, and she kept me away from her. We could've enjoyed our time together, but instead she just pushed me away.

I couldn't take it anymore. I had to get away from here and away from her. I got on my bike and pedaled like I've never pedaled before. I didn't know where I was going, but I just wanted to be alone. Bella was half screaming, half crying for me to go back and forgive her, but I just could do it. I had never felt so betrayed in my life.

Once it was dark, I decided to go back home, I didn't want my mom or dad to worry. I went up to my room, ignoring my mom's calls to go back and eat dinner. I guess she then noticed that I wanted to be alone because she didn't say anything else.

Half an hour later there was a small knock on my door.

"Go away, I want to be alone," I said to whoever was outside my door.

"Edward, honey, what's wrong?" my mom asked as she came into my room and sat at the edge of my bed.

"Bella," was all I could manage to say.

"Oh, I get it, she finally told you," mom said while stroking my hair.

"What do you mean she finally told you?" I asked angrily at my mom, "You mean to tell me that you knew all along that she was moving and you never told me anything."

"Yes, I knew, but Bella made me promise that I wouldn't say anything to you," she calmly explained, "She wanted to be the one to tell you."

"I can't believe this," I said, "how long have you known this?"

"Since Charlie accepted the job," she answered me, "so about two weeks."

"Two weeks! And you never said anything, how could you do this to me mom?" I yelled at her. I had never yelled at my mom, and I could see the pain I was causing her in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Edward, but I promised Bella I would let her be the one to tell you," she said, getting up from my bed. She then stepped out from my room, but before she closed the door she turned back to look at me, like she wanted to say something else, but she didn't and just left me alone to dwell on my misery.

All night I couldn't sleep. All I did as soon as I closed my eyes was see Bella's hurt face when she was telling me she was moving and her face when I just left her in the park. I also felt bad for my mother, for screaming at her. I knew it wasn't her fault, but I was just so frustrated I had to take it out on something, and that just happened to be my mom. I knew I had to apologize, to both of them, and maybe Bella and I could arrange something to keep in touch.

As soon as the sun came up the next morning I got up and went to my parent's bedroom. I made sure to knock first; God knows what they could be doing in there.

"Come in," I heard my mom say.

"Mom, I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for the way I behaved yesterday. I promise you I will never talk to you that way ever again," I said, hoping that she would forgive me.

"Oh, honey, it's ok, I forgive you," she said while extending her hands, letting me know that she wanted a hug, "I know you must feel terrible, losing a best friend is a horrible experience, but I'm sure everything will be alright."

"I know mom, now I just have to go and apologize to Bella, she must feel terrible for the way I left her yesterday," I said, and with that I took off running towards Bella's house.

Once I got up the few steps I noticed that all the lights were off, which was odd, because Charlie would always be up at the crack of dawn. I knocked on the door a few times, but the whole house was quiet. I then decided to climb the tree directly in front of Bella's window. It was closed, but taped to the outside was an envelope, with my name written in Bella's handwriting on the front. I took it from the window, and climbed down the tree. Inside there was a tear-stained letter. I immediately took it out and read it.

_Edward,_

_You don't know how much it pains me to have to leave this way. I never wanted to hurt you, but there is nothing I can do to change this situation. My only hope now is that someday you can forgive me._

_Bella._

She was gone. Bella left me, and I never asked her to forgive me. I never told her how I felt and now she would never know. She was gone, and I was all alone.

**A/N2: please go to www(dot)thewriterscoffeeshop(dot)com to see the rest of the entries to this contest. Next chapter will be up next week. Voting will start on Monday, November 30th, at the same website.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Lyrical Melodrama Story Contest  
Name of story: My love for you is blind or after all this time  
Pen name: Jacky-Cullen  
Song story is inspired by: Blind  
Artist: Lifehouse  
Category: Newbie  
Main Pairing: Edward and Bella  
POV: BPOV**

**A/N: All known characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Thanks to my awesome beta soobcesseditsnotfunny and also to my reviewers.**

* * *

**Present day**

Most people would say I'm crazy to be transferring colleges my senior year in college, but it's just that I couldn't live in Roswell anymore. There were too many painful memories and I just couldn't take it anymore. My dad's passing away was the last straw, but before that many other things happened to me that an ordinary person wouldn't have endured, yet I stayed there for ten long years.

We had lived in Roswell since my dad was offered that job ten years ago. Roswell is a small city in New Mexico, known mainly for the UFO landing so many years ago. To say I wasn't happy was a huge understatement. I had to start school all over again, trying to make new friends to replace the ones I had left behind. It wasn't easy, but it was mostly my fault. I had closed up and didn't want anybody to get close to me.

What was the point? Eventually something would happen that would make me have to say goodbye to them and never see them again. I didn't want to have to go through that kind of pain ever again. Losing a best friend is almost as bad as losing a family member. For me it was worse, because I was an only child, therefore I had no one else with whom to hang out. What hurt the most was not being able to say goodbye, and knowing that he hated me and that he never wanted to hear from me ever again.

So I ignored anyone who wanted to be my friend. Eventually everyone left me alone, like I wanted to be. I became the school's loner. It worked for a while, except for the fact I was completely miserable. Then I met Alice, the newest student after me.

She was a tiny little girl, who could've easily blended in with the third graders. But she had an attitude and a mouth to match the toughest guy in school. The funny part was that she was also one of the girliest girl I had ever met. She would always wear skirts, and would never leave the house without her lip gloss or mascara.

I could never forget the first time she spoke to me.

"Hey, you're Bella, right?" She asked me while sitting down next to me at lunch. Nobody ever sat next to me, and I could feel the other kid's stares because someone was actually speaking to me.

"Yes," I answered. My voice was a little raspy from lack of use.

"I'm Alice," she said and she extended her hand as if expecting me to shake it. When she saw that I wasn't going to shake it, she hastily put it down.

"Why are you so alone? You are too pretty to not have any friends," She said to me and I blushed like I hadn't done in the longest time.

"I don't need any friends," I told her flatly.

"Oh don't be silly, everyone needs friends," she said in between bites of her sandwich, "I'll tell you what, I can be your friend!"

"Umm… no, I don't need any friends," I said again, but with a little more anger in my voice. I was getting mad because she wouldn't leave me alone.

"Yes you do!"

"No, I don't!"

"What harm could it do?"

"I don't want to get close to anybody!" I yelled, and like that I let go of the reason why I didn't want any friends, "What if I have to move again?"

"Oh Bella, has it happened to you before?" She asked and I couldn't answer because I was too busy crying, so I just nodded.

"Well I just moved here, so I just went through it too," she told me, "but that's not good enough reason to be alone all the time."

"It just hurts so much," I said between sobs.

"I know, Bella, but the only thing we can do is move on and try to make new friends," she said, "so I ask you again, do you want to be my friend?"

"Yes," I said, and she enveloped me in a surprisingly tight hug, for someone her size.

And that's how I got a new best friend. She was literally the best friend anybody could ever ask for. She understood me when I was feeling bad and she always made me feel better. We could talk about everything and anything. It didn't matter if we had just been together; there was always something we could talk about. For once my life felt complete.

That is, until my mom decided to leave us. It was our fourth year in Roswell, and my dad's job was as demanding as ever. He never had time to spend with us and my mom felt alone. She was used to having a close family, and the lack of attention made her unhappy. That's why she started having an affair.

I suspected something was going on with my mom when she started going out. It was unusual for her, because she had never behaved that way before. She also started drinking. I wanted to ask her what was going on, but I didn't know how to do it. Alice was the only one who knew of my suspicions.

My mom left a week before my birthday. She didn't even say goodbye to me. The only explanation I ever got was a letter I found on the kitchen table. I had gotten up to make breakfast, since my mother had stopped doing so when her strange behavior started, when I saw the envelope on the table. It was addressed to me, so I opened it and read it.

_Dear Bella,_

_I'm so sorry to be leaving this way but I think it's for the best. It was never my intention to cause you or your father any pain; it's just that I can't take this life anymore. My life felt empty, until I met Phil. He makes me feel alive. I know you probably hate me, and I don't deserve you to forgive me. I just want you to know that I will always love you, even if I'm not with you. And I wish you only the best._

_Love, Renee_

I was glad she didn't sign the letter as mom, because a mother would never leave like that. A mother would never leave, period. But I guess I couldn't blame her. She had always been a free spirit, and being here just made her feel trapped.

After Renee left, my dad got into a real deep depression. He didn't even want to talk to me about it. I felt even worse because the family that I had always known was falling apart. It made me realize all the things that I had always taken for granted. Alice was there for me, as always, so she and her family helped me cope with the feelings I was having. Alice's mom became a mother to me. She would always send casseroles to our house to make sure that my dad and I had a decent home cooked meal at least every once in a while. She would also encourage Alice to invite me to sleep over when my dad worked late, not like she needed any encouragement to do so anyways. But thanks to them I started to feel complete again.

As soon as I turned seventeen I got my first real boyfriend. His name was James Hunter, and he was a senior in high school just like me at the time. He was the perfect boyfriend. Before he even asked me to go out with him, he asked my father for permission to date me. Of course my father didn't care much, but it was a nice gesture nonetheless. He would take me out on dates and he always brought flowers when he picked me up. He would always remember important dates and shower me with gifts, but I didn't like that part of him too much. We had tons in common, from books and movies to our views in religion and politics. The best part of him was that he never pressured me to do anything I didn't want to do.

But Alice never liked him. She would tell me all the time that she had a funny feeling about him. I never believed her though, because James was just so perfect to me. One time we even had a fight over it.

"Bella, can we talk," She had asked one time during our many sleepovers.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" I asked back.

"James," she said and I immediately frowned, we had had similar conversations before.

"I don't want to hear it Alice," I said, "unless you have some kind of proof against him, if not, then keep your thoughts to yourself.

"But Bella, every time I see him I get this funny feeling in my stomach."

"Are you sure it's not just lunch?"

"Bella, this is serious."

"I am being serious. The only way I will believe this feeling of yours is if you show me some kind of proof against him."

"But I'm your best friend."

"Well you're not acting like it."

"I'm only looking after you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I can take care of myself; just because you don't have a boyfriend doesn't mean I need you meddling in my love life."

"You are right; I don't have a boyfriend, because I have enough self confidence to know when someone is not good enough for me."

"What are you implying?"

"I am not implying anything. I am telling you, that you deserve so much better, but you are afraid of letting him go. You don't want to be alone."

"This is ridiculous! Is that what you really think of me?"

"I love you Bella, but you are just blind when it comes to James."

"That's it! I'm leaving, call me when you get that stick out your ass and maybe then we can be friends again."

And with that I left her. I didn't even give her a chance to say anything else. We didn't speak for two whole weeks. I was miserable without her, but the stuff she said to me hurt me really deep. After two of the longest weeks of my life, Alice stopped by my house after school. We had a really long conversation. She apologized for everything she had said to me, and I apologized to her. We laughed, we cried, and at the end we decided that fighting over boyfriends was a stupid way to end a friendship. She promised to not say anything else about James and just like that we were back to being best friends.

How I wish I could back in time and listen to Alice when I still had time.

When we started college was when I first saw some changes on him. He would not call me for days at a time, and when I asked him where he had been he would only get angry, and he would tell me to not be so clingy and leave him alone. He also became extremely jealous. He would accuse me of flirting with everybody, when in fact I only had eyes for him. The fighting got to the point where he slapped me, but I forgave him, because I thought I was in love.

He also became more adamant that we take our physical relationship to the next level. I had told him from the beginning my views on that subject, and he had always seemed fine with it. One night though, he came to my dorm room and I could tell he was extremely drunk. He started to undress me, and he hit me when I refused.

"C'mon Bella, we both know you want to," he said, slurring his words.

"No, I don't want to," I said to him, "especially not if you're drunk, I want it to be special"

"You're just a tease," he said and he grabbed me by my hair and tried to kiss me.

"James, I don't want to do this, please leave me alone," I pleaded.

"No, you slut! I see you around campus, the way you behave. Who are you trying to kid, pretending to be an innocent little virgin."

"James you are hurting me!"

"This would be a lot easier if you didn't refuse."

"I'm going to call security!"

That really got him mad. He started slapping me, pulling my hair, and he even punched me in my stomach. I ended up on the floor, my left eye was starting to close up already. I did the only thing I could think of. I pulled the lamp from the desk and hit him in the head when he was going to hit me again. He was so drunk, his reflexes were failing him, and so with one hit from the lamp he passed out cold.

I called Alice, and she was there within five minutes. She held me while the police asked questions, she never let go, and I was grateful for that. She never said 'I told you so', she just held me until I felt better.

The only good thing that came out of that night was that my father broke off of the spell he was living in. For the longest time, he would just go to work and then home. He didn't even pay attention to me until that night. I guess seeing me all bruised up helped him wake up, and realize that he was not alone. That he had me and that I needed him, now more than ever. He helped me with the restraining order, and everything that needed to be done to make sure James never came close to me ever again.

After that night I didn't date anymore. I just focused on my studies and nothing else. My dad even asked me to move back with him, and although it pained me to have to say no to him, I decided it would be better for me to stay where I was. I did visited more often though. I mean, someone had to make sure he was still alive and eating something other than take out every day.

Once again, when everything seemed to be going alright, tragedy struck again. My dad got diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. The irony of it was that he had never even smoked. He hated the smell of cigarettes more than anything. The cancer was diagnosed in its late stages so there was nothing we could do. What pained me the most is that maybe I could've seen some symptoms if I had been living with him. I knew that my dad hated going to the doctor, but never in my mind did I think it would affect him this much.

My dad passed away three months after being diagnosed. After his funeral I decided to leave Roswell for good. Anything bad that could've happened to someone had happened to me and I just couldn't take it anymore. It was as if it was a curse, just waiting to destroy my life.

I opted to finish the rest of the semester, having only a month to finish my junior year, and then I would move back to California. Having straight As and a perfect record made it easy to transfer universities. What wasn't easy was telling Alice. She didn't take it real well.

"Alice, I'm moving," I told her, bluntly, cutting to the chase.

"What?! What are you talking about?" She replied, anger, shock, and sadness evident on her face.

"I can't live here anymore Ali," I said, using her nickname to maybe calm her down some, "this place is just full of painful memories and I just can't stand it anymore."

"I understand that," she said, "but you can't leave me here, what am I going to do without you?"

"Ali, you have your whole family here and some other friends, you'll be fine."

"Yes, family and friends, but not my best friend."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Can I go with you?"

"What? You can't just pick up and leave with me; I didn't even tell you where I'm moving to."

"That's not important; we're best friends, who is going to help you in that new place? Who are you going to tell your problems to? Who are you…"

"Please Ali, don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be."

"Do you remember when you first moved here? Do you want to do to me what you did to your best friend all those years ago?"

"Ali that's not fair."

"Truth hurts doesn't it? Tell you what, I will talk to my family about it, and if they're ok with it we make the move together."

'What if they disagree?"

"We'll worry about that later."

"I don't know about this."

"Please Bella? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Fine Alice, as long as it's OK with your family, you can come with me."

"Yay! I knew you wouldn't leave me. This is going to be so much fun!"

And that's how I, along with my best friend, ended up in my old hometown. Me trying to get a fresh start in life, and Alice, well she was just happy to tag along.

* * *

**A/N2: please go to www(dot)thewriterscoffeeshop(dot)com to see the rest of the entries to this contest. Next chapter will be up next week. Voting will start on Monday, November 30th, at the same website.**

**A/N3: I know you're probably thinking enough with the A/N, but I have to vent somewhere. This chapter was so much better. I had just finished writing the finishing touches when I accidentally lost it. I swear to God that file just disappeared! And I'm a computer expert, or at least I thought I was, but I just couldn't bring it back. I got depressed, and I had the rough draft on my flash drive. If I felt like this, imagine those authors whose computers crash and they lose everything? I don't think I would have the energy to rewrite the whole thing again. Hopefully it won't happen again. I don't think I could take it. Has it ever happened to you, like losing homework or important files? **

**A/N4: Just kidding!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Lyrical Melodrama Story Contest  
Name of story: After All this Time  
Pen name: Jacky-Cullen  
Song story is inspired by: Blind  
Artist: Lifehouse  
Category: Newbie  
Main Pairing: Edward and Bella  
POV: EPOV**

**A/N: All known characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Thanks to my awesome beta soobcesseditsnotfunny and also to my reviewers.**

* * *

**Present day**

Living a life full of regrets is not a healthy way to live. That's why I decided to live my life to the fullest, never stopping to think about making decisions. Just going with the flow and never looking back. My motto was to do something to make me feel alive every single day. And I tried to achieve it every day, but the truth was, was that I wasn't really happy.

Some people would call me a man-whore, but I don't see it that way. I'm just looking for 'the one', my soul mate, the girl of my dreams. I just wanted to meet that woman that would make me forget all others. So far, I haven't had any luck finding her. But I plan to keep trying for as long as I have to.

When did I first start behaving this way? Well, that would be about ten years ago, when I made the biggest mistake of my life. I still can't get over how stupid I was for letting Bella go without letting her know how I felt. That's why I became sort of a 'yes man'. If I say yes to everything, I never have to have that 'what if' feeling.

This life does have its 'downs' as I call them though. Two broken arms, a destroyed Mustang, and a pregnancy scare to be exact. But I've never regretted anything. Those things taught me great lessons and rules to abide by to never have them happen to me again.

The two broken arms were thanks to my friend Emmett. He was a huge dude, and I say that in the nicest way possible. He was really proud of it too, showing his 'guns' whenever he found the chance to do so. We had just started hanging out, since he was new in school, when he invited me to go skateboarding.

He convinced me to try to do a kickflip. Basically it consisted of me spinning my board as many times as I could in one jump. He did it and it looked easy enough. I mean if a guy his size could do it, then why couldn't I?

"Ok Eddie, you start by doing an Ollie," he said, and I just looked at him with a dumbfounded expression on my face.

"That just means that you make a jump by tapping the tail of the board," he waited for me to understand, "now pop the tail down as hard as you can with your back foot, and slide your front foot forward and off the board while jumping in the air ok.

"Bring your legs up as far as you can and keep you body in line with the board. Make sure to watch your board rotate and as soon as you board has rotated a full kickflip, catch your board with your feet and land. Easy, huh?"

"You know what dude, I didn't understand a thing you said, why don't you just show me again?" I said to him. He did everything he had just explained to me and landed gracefully on his board.

"You got it?" he asked.

"I think so," I said as I jumped on my board.

Yeah, it wasn't as easy as it looked. What Emmett failed to mention was that he had been skateboarding since he was five. I had never even touched a skateboard, ever. The outcome wasn't pretty at all. I made him repay me by making him my own personal pack mule. He had to carry my backpack around school, and he also had to help me by writing all my homework, among other things.

I've never regretted this, and even though this experience taught me to never listen to Emmet's ideas, it also showed me that he was a true friend. I mean, who else would help a thirteen year old boy to go to the bathroom at school? Only a true friend.

Another one of the 'downs' of my life was my Mustang. I had gotten a '65 blue Mustang for my sixteenth birthday from my parents. It was completely renovated on the inside, with the coolest stereo system known to man, or at least to me and my friends. The paint job was incredible too, cobalt blue with two white racing stripes down the middle. It even had heated seats. I really loved that car. Loved being the operative word.

Jasper, my newest friend at the time, Emmett, and I were driving around in my 'stang, when we came up to a couple of gangsters. Emmett, being his usual trouble-seeking self, started yelling obscenities at them.

"Is that what gangsters now a day's call a car?" yelled Emmett.

"Are you talking to us?" The one behind the wheel responded with a heavy Spanish accent.

"Is there anybody else here?"

"What, you think that because you have that pretty car you guys are tough?"

"Tougher than you."

"Oistes ese? This gringo thinks he's all that," the guy said to his friend.

"Don't call me that, I know it means white boy," Emmett said to them and they just started laughing.

"Why don't we settle this with a little race?"

"And what happens when we win?"

"You mean when we win, well I'll take that pretty car of yours princess."

"Ok, and if we win?

"We won't kick your little white asses," and with that they showed us some pretty scary looking guns.

"O-ok," all three of us said in unison.

To say I lost would be putting it mildly. I was so scared I couldn't even shift gears. The gangsters were halfway to the finishing line by the time I reacted. Now not only would they kick our asses because of Emmett's words, but also because we lost the bet.

I was totally freaking out, so I told them to follow me to my house to get the title of the car. Once I got home, I told my father what had happened, and although he was mad at our stupidity, he said he'd take care of it. He calmly explained to them that he wouldn't give them the car. After fifteen minutes of arguing and a threat to call the INS, they finally left.

My parents were furious. They grounded me for three months, with no TV, no computer, no music and the ever popular no going out. But that wasn't the worst punishment I received. The gangsters came back later that night and threw a gas can through a window into my car and then set it on fire. We called the fire department and the police as soon as we saw what was happening, but it was too late. By the time that they arrived my car was destroyed beyond repair. The police found no evidence of who had done it, but we knew who it was.

I don't regret this at all. It was just yet another example of why I was to never, ever listen to Emmett's ideas, and also to never let him call shotgun.

The third 'down' was completely my fault. I had always been careful around girls, making sure I had protection at all times. God knows I wasn't ready to have little Edwards running around. In fact, I'm still not ready.

I was nineteen, a sophomore in college, and as out of control as ever. I was known around school for throwing the wildest parties on campus. A party wasn't considered cool until I arrived. I also had girls falling over me at all times, so every guy envied me.

I was having one of my usual Friday night hook ups when it happened. Jessica was her name, and I only remember her name because of the scare she gave me. I was somewhat drunk. No that's a lie, I was three beers away from passing out, and so was Jessica. We were so far gone that when things started to get heated up, I barely remembered the mechanics let alone to be safe.

Two weeks later she found me to tell me she thought she was pregnant. My first reaction was to tell her it wasn't mine. She then started crying, and I felt bad for her. I took her to my room to talk about things privately.

"Ok, so why do you think you are pregnant?" I had to ask her.

"My period is one week late," She answered between sobs.

"Well, that happens sometimes, doesn't it?" I was by no means an expert about this stuff, but I had taken a couple of biology classes here and there.

"No, well not to me at least," she said, "It was always like clockwork."

"And if you are pregnant," I said, trying to come up with a way to not offend her, "how do you know it's mine?"

With this a new set of tears came pouring from her face. I tried to hug her, to give her some comfort, but she just pushed me away. I guess I did offend her. Once she calmed down she started talking again.

"I know it's yours, because I've only ever slept with one person, you."

"You mean to tell me you lost your virginity to me?"

"Yes, and trust me, there is nothing else I've ever regretted as much."

Regret, the one word that I wanted to vanish from my vocabulary. Her revelation made me realize that I had to man up and suffer the consequences for my actions. My stupid, alcohol-induced actions.

"Listen Jacqueline."

"It's Jessica."

"Yeah, Jessica, I don't know if you want to keep the baby or not, but I'm going to stand behind whatever decision you make, ok?"

"Ok"

"First things first, we should schedule an appointment with a doctor to see if you are really pregnant. I mean maybe you're not even pregnant."

"Thank you Edward."

"You're welcome; it's the least I can do since I got you into this mess."

At the end it turned out to be just a scare, and Jessica was just as relieved as I was. I mean, I had planned to settle down and help her, but it was so much better knowing I wasn't going to be a father. I don't regret this though, because it thought me a lesson I don't think I'll ever forget, no matter how drunk I am: no glove no love.

I was walking towards my room, girl in hand, when my world suddenly came to a halt. I heard the voices of a couple of girls chatting and laughing coming form an adjacent hallway. One of the voices was oddly familiar even though I hadn't heard it in almost a decade.

"I can't believe we are finally here," said the familiar voice.

"I know this is so exciting," said the other voice.

"Everything feels so different."

"Of course it's different; there are actually fun places to go here."

"Alice, we are here for school, not for partying."

"Oh Bella, you have to live a little. You're young, beautiful, and smart, yet you act like a grumpy old lady."

"I do not!"

Just then they turned the corner and I came face to face with the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on. Then everything clicked. The girl had called her Bella. She was Bella, my Bella. Here in the same university. I suddenly felt alive. That feeling I had been craving for so long was there, thanks to this girl with beautiful brown eyes.

She was staring at me, like I was staring at her. It was just us, alone in that hallway. And I still felt the same way about her as I had all those years ago. I could finally come clean and tell her and we could be together, forever.

But Karma had other plans, because the girl I had intended to take to my room chose that moment to make herself known. She started grinding into me and kissing my neck and then she said, "C'mon Eddie, let's just go inside." But I didn't want to go inside, because the angel recognized me.

"Edward?" She asked, and her tears started to form in her eyes.

"Bella," was the only response I could muster at that moment.

* * *

**A/N2: please go to www(dot)thewriterscoffeeshop(dot)com to see the rest of the entries to this contest. Next chapter will be up next week. Voting will start on Monday, November 30th, at the same website.**

**A/N3: Thank God this time I didn't lose anything! I found out what happened last time. When I downloaded the beta'ed version last time I hit 'open' instead of 'save', so all the changes were saved to my temporary internet files. That would've been fine, if I hadn't downloaded the file agai, replacing the one with the changes. Long story short, I have learned my lesson, and hopefully it won't happen again.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Lyrical Melodrama Story Contest  
Name of story: After All this Time  
Pen name: Jacky-Cullen  
Song story is inspired by: Blind  
Artist: Lifehouse  
Category: Newbie  
Main Pairing: Edward and Bella  
POV: BPOV**

**A/N: All known characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Thanks to my awesome beta soobcesseditsnotfunny and also to my reviewers.**

* * *

After a month of finals, packing and other moving related projects, Alice and I had finally moved to California. But not before an amazing goodbye party. Alice's mom had gone all out to make sure everyone had a good time. There was food, music, and even booze for the older crowd. The only sad part had been to actually say good bye at the end of the day.

"Good bye Ma," Alice said to her mom with tears in her eyes.

"Aw, don't cry sweetheart," her mom had responded, "This will be good for you, for both of you."

"Thanks, I just hope you are right, and that this is the right decision," I said to her, now crying too, because I was technically leaving the only family I had left, even if we weren't related.

"Of course this is a good decision, now I'm going to give you three pieces of advice for surviving in a big city," she told us, "First, don't get too caught up in the partying scene, I know you guys will want to go out, and heck so would I, but be careful."

"Ok," Alice and I said at the same time.

"Second, it's ok to make new friends and meet new people, just don't be too trusting of just anybody. People are raised different in a big city, their morals are not the same, if they have any at all," she continued.

"Ok," Alice and I said again, stifling a little laugh.

"And third," she said, clearly not amused that we were laughing at her advice, "keep your money in your front pockets."

At that we all started laughing uncontrollably. It was a good distraction from all the sadness we were feeling. We actually felt better when it was time to leave, thanks to the last laughs we shared together.

We, and our stuff, arrived to California two months before the semester started. We had decided it was the best to make the move during summer vacation so that we could get accustomed to living in a city that was like 50 times bigger than Roswell. That way we could learn the ins and outs when we still had time, not when school started and our schedules were full to the limit.

Alice couldn't have been happier about our moving together. Cheerfulness emanated from her pores and it was contagious. I was just happy to get out of that dreadful place. To be back at my home town felt amazing. Alice, on the other hand, was happy about everything. She enjoyed every aspect of it, the places to see, the people to meet, the countless number of stores at the mall, but especially the last part.

We had just arrived from the mall, or shall I say Alice's home away from home, and we were walking towards our dorm room. She was telling me everything she was excited about. Again, for like the twentieth time today alone.

"I love that mall, it's so much bigger, and nicer, and it has so many more stores that Roswell's," she was telling me.

"Well everything here is pretty much bigger and nicer than anything over there," I said to her.

"You should be more excited Bella," she said as she turned to look at me.

"I am. I just don't show it as much as you do. I don't have your energy levels Alice," I answered sincerely.

"Whatever," she said sticking her tongue out at me.

"I can't believe we are finally here," I said once our door was visible.

"I know this is so exciting," Alice said. Like she needed to tell me just how excited she was.

"Everything feels so different." I said referring to the university and our dorms, but Alice took it as in general.

"Of course it's different; there are actually fun places to go here."

"Alice, we are here for school, not for partying."

"Oh Bella, you have to live a little. You're young, beautiful, and smart, yet you act like a grumpy old lady."

"I do not!"

Just then we reached the corner of the hallway and I came face to face with a guy with beautiful green eyes. Green eyes that I had only seen on one person before. Ten years ago to be exact. My mind was trying to come up with other possible explanations as to why he looked so familiar, but I came up short. Meanwhile we just stood there, staring at each other as if we were the only people on this place.

Just then I realized that the guy wasn't alone, because a girl started groping him right in front of me and called him 'Eddie'. That little piece of information confirmed that in fact this guy was someone I knew. He was my best friend from all those years ago. I couldn't believe it, after all ten years we were in the same place, as if fate had decided to reunite us.

"Edward?" I just asked to make sure this wasn't a dream.

"Bella," he said, and I could hear some relief in his voice. But from what I had no idea.

I couldn't control my actions. It was as if my body was reacting on its own. I started running away from him. All I could see was his face from ten years ago, and I just couldn't take it.

I had reached the main door by the time Alice caught up with me. I broke down at that moment, tears just pouring down from my eyes, once again with me being unable to control my own body's actions.

"What happened honey?" Alice said while rubbing my back.

"That was Edward," I said in between sobs.

"I gathered as much, but why did you run away?" She asked, obviously trying to understand my actions.

"It's just that when I saw his face, I remembered his reactions from when I told him I was leaving," I told her. I knew she would understand because I had told her the story at the beginning of our friendship.

"Shh honey, it will be ok, I have a feeling," She continued trying to comfort me. Just then Edward reached us.

"Bella is that really you? I can't believe it, how is it that you are here after so many years? And why did you run away from me?" He said, running out of breath at the end.

"I don't think Bella wants to talk to you," Alice told him coldly.

"Bella, c'mon, why won't you talk to me?" he was pleading now.

"Please, just leave me alone," I finally looked up, just in time to see his pained expression.

"But Bella…" He whispered.

"Just what part of 'leave her alone' don't you understand?" Alice said to him, in a deadly tone. I think he finally understood, as he reluctantly turned around and left us. We waited five minutes to actually go back, because I didn't want to have to see him again. The only problem with that is that we were neighbors, and I didn't know how long I could avoid him.

I avoided him for almost thirteen hours. I know, pathetic. Alice had gone out early in the morning because she had a job interview, so I decided to go out for coffee by myself. What I didn't plan on was Edward blocking my door. He was sitting down on the floor, his back rested on the door, so when I opened said door, he feel backwards onto my feet.

"What the hell!" I said to him and he immediately sat up.

"Oh, Bella, please I need to talk to you," he said, but I closed the door before he finished his sentence, "I won't leave until you talk to me."

I knew he was stubborn, and he would spend the whole day sitting there until he said what he wanted to say. I sighed and reluctantly opened the door again. He had a huge smile on his face, but it dropped the moment he saw the expression on my face.

"I was going out for coffee," I said to him rather unenthusiastically.

"That's perfect, I know this great little place," he said.

"Starbucks is fine," I said quickly to him.

"Starbucks it is," he answered and led the way.

As soon as we sat down, coffee at hand, I told him to say what he had to say. I was really uncomfortable being with him.

"I have so many questions, I don't even know where to start," he said to me, looking down at his coffee.

"Just ask whatever is on your mind, and I'll try to answer it," I said, a bit more calmed by seeing him acting all shy.

"Ok, first, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here because of school, among other things."

"Will you tell me what the other things are?"

"No, or at least not right now."

"Why did you run away from me yesterday?"

"Pass."

"What? You can't pass, that's not part of the rules."

"What rules? There aren't any, so I pass."

"Is it because you hate me?"

"What? No, that's not it at all. I don't hate you Edward. You were my best friend. I could never hate you. The truth is that I ran because I know you must still hate me, and it pains me to have hurt you that way all those years ago."

"You think I hate you? Bella, I went to look for you the day after you told me, but you were gone."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I've never felt worst about anything as I did for treating you that way."

"No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have waited so long to tell you."

"Bella, can we just forget about everything, and just be friends like before?"

"I don't know, Edward."

"C'mon Bells, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too."

And that's how I got my best friend back. We stayed at that Starbucks until closing time. We talked about everything. I told him everything I had done and everything that had happened to me. To say he was mad was an understatement. He apologized for not being there for me, even though we both knew he couldn't have done anything to change what had happened.

He then told me about his accomplishments and his goals. He also talked about his friends, who sounded hilarious, and his family. I was glad to hear that unlike mine, his parents were still together, happy, and very much alive.

Once the workers kicked us out, we walked back to our dorm rooms in complete silence. It wasn't awkward, it felt nice. Besides, we had already talked so much throughout the day there wasn't anything else to be said. But the quiet didn't last long once we reached my door. Alice was furious to say the least.

"Bella, where the hell have you been? Why didn't you leave a note? Why are you with him? Where is your cell phone?" She asked frantically.

"Calm down Alice, I went for coffee with Edward and we lost track of time," I assured her.

"You. Inside. Now!" She said pointing her finger at me.

"Yes mom. I'll see you later Edward," I responded.

"What's wrong with you Bella? Yesterday you couldn't even look at him and today you spend the whole day with him? And you didn't tell me anything, you could've been dead for all I knew!"

"I'm sorry Ali, it's just that he was here when I was heading out, and he wouldn't leave, so I had no choice. Then we started talking and everything is ok now. And I promise to never leave like that again, ok?"

"How can you guys be friends again just like that?"

"I don't know Ali, it just feels right. I don't know how to explain it."

"What if he hurts you again?"

"I don't have to leave this time, so it won't happen again."

"I just hope you're right. I don't want to see you in pain again because of him."

"Thanks for caring so much Alice; you are truly the best friend a girl could ever dream of having."

"So I'm still your best friend?"

"Of course Ali, only now I have two best friends. Is that what that was? You were jealous of Edward?"

"What? Me, jealous? Of course not."

"It's ok Ali."

We spent a whole week just hanging out, all three of us, Alice and Edward just getting to know each other. Alice still didn't like Edward all that much, but she tolerated him. That is until Edward introduces us to his best friends, Emmett and Jasper. One was tall and really well built, and the other was tall too, but not as muscular. The skinnier of the two, Jasper, stole Alice's heart the moment their eyes met.

He was all Alice could talk about. They started dating almost immediately. It was weird to see Alice dating, because she never had before. She would always say that there wasn't anybody that had caught her eyes yet, and that she was waiting for her soul mate.

Edward also earned points with Alice thanks to Jasper. She said that if Jasper liked him, then he must be a good guy. I was just happy to have such good friends, and that they actually liked each other.

The only part that was lacking was my dating life. And Alice made sure to point that out almost every day. She was obsessed with me dating this guy that lived to the left of us. His name was Jacob Black and he was gorgeous, I must admit. The phrase tall, dark, and handsome came to mind when thinking about him. And Alice liked him, so that was a plus.

I decided to give him a chance and go out on a date with him. He took me to Six Flags. We had some of the biggest burgers I had ever laid eyes on, and the fries were to die for. I seriously considered asking them for the secret recipe. We rode almost every ride, my favorite being Déjà vu. We also took pictures with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and even Tweety. At the end of the day Jacob bought me a key chain, with my name on it. It was really cool because it the name flashed and it didn't even need batteries, it was solar powered.

At first I thought his idea of a first date was a bit unconventional, but at the end of the day I really had a great time. What made it better was that Jacob was the perfect gentleman throughout the day. He even asked me if he could give me a kiss when we arrived at the dorms. I obliged.

The kiss was nice. It was sweet and slow. But I didn't feel any sparks. Even when I had kissed James I had felt the fireworks everyone dreams about. But this kiss, as nice as it was, didn't ignite anything in me. When I told Alice this, she was extremely disappointed.

"But he is so nice Bella," she was practically begging me.

"I know, and I really like him, but I'm not sure I like him, like him," I responded.

"What are you twelve?"

"This is serious, what should I do?"

"Well at least give him another chance, maybe he was having an off day."

"You are just making a joke out of this situation."

"No, I'm trying to help you. Let me just think for a minute"

"What do you have in mind?"

"How about we do like a group date, Jasper and I will go, and we can invite Emmett and his girlfriend, and even Edward."

"That's actually a good idea. I think it would be too awkward for me to be alone with him."

"Ok well, tell Edward, let's see if he's free this Friday, and tell him to get himself a date, and I'll call Rosalie."

"Will do."

By Friday afternoon I was a nervous wreck. I was kind of nervous because aside from what Alice had told me about Jasper, I didn't know Edward's friends really well. Alice, on the other hand was really close to all of them already. But that was mostly just her personality. She was really good at making friends.

The other thing that kept bugging me was the reason for the group date. I really did want things to work out between Jacob and me, but I was afraid that this was just a mistake. What if a lost a possible friendship because I couldn't return the same feelings? Just thinking about it made me not look forward to our outing.

By seven o'clock Jacob and Jasper had arrived at our dorm to pick us up. We had to take Jasper's truck because Jacob's was only for two passengers. Everyone else was just going to meet us at the restaurant.

When we arrived we immediately went to where Edward and Emmett were sitting. They both were being accompanied by blondes. One was Rosalie, and the other one was introduced as Tanya, who was the same girl Edward was with the day we met again.

The dinner was as uncomfortable as I had feared, if not more. Jacob kept trying to start up a conversation with me, but I was too busy glaring at Tanya, who was ogling Edward who in turn was staring at me. I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn't want to turn his way. Seeing him with her suddenly made me jealous. I couldn't understand my feelings, so I just put them at the back of my mind for the moment.

All of a sudden the atmosphere changed when Tanya was talking to Edward, and he called her Bella.

"What did you just call me?!" She angrily screamed at him.

"I'm sorry Taylor," he said, and we all 'UH'ed, because we knew that wasn't her name either.

"It's Tanya, you asshole." She was livid now.

"I'm sorry, Tanya. I think it would be best if we just left," He said trying to calm her down.

"If you weren't too busy drooling over her, then maybe you could pay some attention to me," She said, pointed her perfectly manicured finger at me.

"I am paying attention, you are just too shallow for my liking," he answered, suddenly angry too.

"That's it, I'm leaving," she said as she dumped her drink on Edward, "don't bother calling me again."

"I'm sorry for ruining your evening guys," he said turning to us.

"Are you kidding man? That was really entertaining," Jasper answered him.

"Yeah, dinner and a show," said Emmett and Rosalie smacked him on the arm.

"I guess I better get going. I don't want to get all sticky," He said and he started pulling out his wallet to pay and then leave.

"That's what she said," Emmett whispered and Rosalie smacked him again.

"That's it Emmett, take me home," Rosalie said.

"We better leave too," Alice said, sending me a side glance.

"I guess I'll see you later," I said to Edward, but I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay with him to make sure he was ok.

I was really quiet during the car ride. The guys kept making jokes at Edward and Tanya's expense, but I didn't feel like laughing. I think Alice could sense something was wrong with me because she didn't laugh either and she kept taking glances at me. When we arrived at the parking lot, Alice and Jasper stayed behind. They probably wanted some alone time, since they hadn't gotten any, it being a group date after all. Jacob walked me to my door.

"Listen Jacob, I have to tell you something," I said to him, but I had no idea of where to start.

"You can tell me anything," he responded tenderly.

"You are making this so hard," I told him sincerely.

"Just tell me. I can take it like a man," he responded, and he stuck out his chest to prove it.

"Ok," I said and I took a deep breath, "I'm so sorry, but I don't think I can date you anymore. I like you, I really do, but I don't feel the chemistry I should."

"It's ok, I understand" he told me, but his eyes told me differently.

"You do?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I like it,"

"I really hope we can still be friends."

"Do you know what they say breaking up and being friends?"

"No, what do they say?"

"It's like your puppy dying, and your mom tells you can still keep it."

I smacked him lightly on his arm. I knew we would be ok. He then walked to his dorm and I walked into mine.

Now I just had to figure out why I felt jealous of Edward dating another girl. He and I had always been friends, but nothing more. Did I suddenly like Edward? But that doesn't make sense. We are just friends, and we hadn't even seen each other in ten years. But then I started to think about it. We had always been close. He knew everything about me and I knew everything about him. We always clicked. Maybe I had liked him all this time, but I was just too blind to see it.

And what about Edward? Did he even like me? Alice kept hinting that he might have a crush on me but I never believed her. This was just so confusing! And what if I told him and he didn't like me back? That would be too embarrassing. But what if he likes me? That would be awesome. We could be together and we would be so happy.

I didn't have any more time to ponder on my recent discoveries because there was a knock on my door. I hastily got up from my bed and went to answer it. When I opened the door there was no one there, but a seemingly old envelope did catch my eye. A much happier Alice then appeared in the hallway and I asked her if she had seen who left it.

"No I just got in, why?"

"No, it's just that someone knocked and they left this."

"Is it for you?"

"Well it says Bella, I'm not sure."

"Oh shut up and open it."

Inside there was a letter, a love letter. But what was weird about it was the handwriting. It was neat, but I could still tell it was from someone young. Or someone who used to be young, because the paper did look a bit old. The content of the letter was really sweet.

_Bella,_

_I just wanted to tell you that I think you are the prettiest, sweetest, most amazing girl I've ever met. You are so good with everyone; everyone wants to be your friend. Even Peter the bunny likes you. What I'm trying to say is that I'm really lucky to be your best friend, and that I love you. I understand if you don't like me the same way, but I just couldn't keep it a secret anymore._

_Love, your best friend._

That last part got me thinking. The letter couldn't be from Edward, could it? But it made sense; he was the only one who knew me back then. And he signed it as 'your best friend', so unless Alice had a lesbian crush on me, it had to be from him. But why did he give it to me now? Did he mean to tell me that he not only likes me, but he loves me? I had so many questions and not enough answers. And the only person who could give me some answers was Edward himself, but after my recent discoveries about my feelings for him I didn't think I could face him.

"Where are you going?" Alice asked me. I had forgotten she was right next to me.

"I need some time to think," I answered as I reached the door.

"Do you have any idea who it's from?"

"I'm not completely sure, but I think I do."

"Ok, just don't be out to late." And with that she pushed me out the door with a big smile on her face.

I had no idea where I was going. I just got on my truck and drove around, trying to clear my head. I drove for about an hour when I came up to a playground. It reminded me of the park all those years ago where I had told Edward I was leaving. Right there and then I started crying. I just couldn't hold it in anymore.

I started thinking about everything that had happened to me since I had moved. Would it have been the same if we hadn't moved? Would my dad still be alive? Would Renee have stayed with us? And the most important question of all, would I be happy right now?

I couldn't wonder about what could've been any longer because a silver Volvo's screeching brakes brought me out of my pondering. It was Edward, and he was running towards me. As soon as I saw him I forgot about everything else. He made everything better just by being close to me and I wasn't going to wait any longer to tell him how I felt.

"Bella, I'm so glad you're Ok," he said as he reached me, a bit out of breath.

"Edward, we need to talk," I responded looking up at his incredible green eyes.

* * *

**A/N2: please go to www(dot)thewriterscoffeeshop(dot)com to see the rest of the entries to this contest. Next chapter will be up next week. Voting will start on Monday, November 30th, at the same website.**

**A/N3: There you go, the fourth installment of my story. This is my longest chapter to date, so I'm rather proud about it. I really hope you guys like it! On a side note, who else is excited about New Moon? Only three days until the premier! Well three for me because I'm going to the midnight show, my friends and I already have the tickets and a party planned! Is anybody else going to the midnight showing? Any ideas of how we could pass the time at the movie theater waiting for midnight? Let me know.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Lyrical Melodrama Story Contest  
Name of story: After All this Time  
Pen name: Jacky-Cullen  
Song story is inspired by: Blind  
Artist: Lifehouse  
Category: Newbie  
Main Pairing: Edward and Bella  
POV: EPOV**

**A/N: All known characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Thanks to my awesome beta soobcesseditsnotfunny.**

* * *

I was never a big believer of karma, but I must've done something really bad to have this happen to me. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would ever see Bella again, just to have her run away from me. It was probably the best reality check I could have ever received.

Seeing Bella made me realize that the personality I portrayed was not really who I was. I was just trying to compensate for not having true love in my life. Just one look from her made me understand all that. The bad thing was that she ran away from me.

Tanya, unbeknownst to my inner turmoil, kept telling me to move what we were doing to my room. Frankly, I had lost all desire to be with her, or any other person who wasn't Bella, ever again. Therefore, I told her I didn't feel well anymore and told her I would see her later. Only I knew I did not intend to see her again. I ran as fast as I could to catch up to Bella, and I found her crouched by the main door. The tiny girl who was accompanying her was whispering encouraging words in her ear. At that moment I decided to confront her about running away

"Bella is that really you? I can't believe it, how is it that you are here after so many years? And why did you run away from me?" I asked, running out of breath at the end.

"I don't think Bella wants to talk to you," Bella's friend told me.

"Bella, c'mon, why won't you talk to me?" I asked pleading.

"Please, just leave me alone," She said, finally looking up at me.

"But Bella…" I whispered.

"Just what part of 'leave her alone' don't you understand?" the girl said to me in a tone that told me she meant business. I didn't understand what could've happened for her to hate me, so I just left.

I spent the whole night thinking about Bella. One would think that after so many years a crush would just go away, but that wasn't the case with me. On contraire, the feelings just got stronger by the minute. I knew this wasn't an ordinary crush, I was head over heels for Bella, and apparently she hates my guts.

I got up extremely early the next day in hopes of catching Bella and make her listen to me. I heard her door open at about seven thirty, but when I looked through my peep hole I only saw the tiny girl leave the dorm. I then decided to wait for her outside her door until she came out. Just as I had dozed off for a second she finally came out. The only problem was that she closed her door in my face.

After some convincing she finally decided to let me accompany her for some coffee. I was so nervous I didn't even know where to start. I really didn't want to mess up what could be my only opportunity to talk to her. Eventually, loosened up a bit and we talked for hours, literally. We didn't even realize the coffee shop was closing until the workers threatened to kick us out.

I was so happy I was practically floating on cloud nine. On our way home we didn't say anything else, but there was no need to. We had caught up on everything that had happened to us over the years we were apart, and although I was sad to hear all the bad things that had happened to Bella I was glad we were finally reunited, and hopefully I could finally admit my feelings to her.

The following week we spent just hanging out, Bella, Alice, and I. I could tell Alice didn't like me because whenever Bella wasn't watching she would give me the hairy eyeball. Thankfully her dislike for me changed when I introduced her to Jasper. I don't know what Jasper told her about me, and I really don't care, but she was finally somewhat civil towards me. And Jasper couldn't thank me enough for introducing them. It was as if they were made for each other, or so he would tell me every chance he got.

Everything was going well, except for the part where Bella started dating Jacob, her other neighbor. I couldn't believe it, I was trying to slowly creep myself into Bella's heart, meanwhile she was already with someone else. Clearly, someone was not a big fan of me and Bella getting together.

A couple of days after Bella's big date with Jacob, Bella invited me to a group date. She said it was Alice's idea, to get to know the whole group better, but I had a feeling that wasn't all she was up to. Since everyone was going with their significant other, she told me I should get myself a date. It took a lot of restraint for me to not tell her that I didn't want to date anyone besides her, but seeing as she was going to be with Jacob, I did find me a date. I swallowed my pride and called Tanya, who was more than happy to go out with me.

Friday came way too quickly for my liking. I was in no way prepared for seeing Bella with another man. I couldn't help it but feel betrayed, because she wasn't with me. I knew it wasn't anybody's fault but my own, but I couldn't do anything to control my emotions, as irrational as they were.

The group date itself was a disaster. Everyone seemed to be having fun except for me. My date kept trying to strike a conversation with me, but all I could do was stare at Bella and her beautiful brown eyes.

"Edward, are you even listening to me?" my date asked.

"I'm sorry Bella, what were you saying?" I answered.

"What did you just call me?!" She angrily screamed at me.

"I'm sorry Taylor," I said, but realized my mistake when I heard uh's from everyone at the table.

"It's Tanya, you asshole." She was livid now.

"I'm sorry, Tanya. I think it would be best if we just left," I said trying to calm her down, but it didn't work.

"If you weren't too busy drooling over her, then maybe you could pay some attention to me," She said, pointing accusatively at Bella.

"I am paying attention, you are just too shallow for my liking," I knew I was lying and she was right, but I didn't like her pointing out the obvious to everyone.

"That's it, I'm leaving, don't bother calling me again!" she said as she dumped her drink on me.

"I'm sorry for ruining your evening guys," Was all I could say to them. They then started making fun of me, which just made me feel more stupid for agreeing to the idea of coming out with them. The only one who seemed concerned about my feelings was Bella.

When I arrived at my dorm all I could do was pace around the room. It was obvious that I would never be happy unless I told the truth to Bella, and the sooner the better. The only problem was deciding how to do it. I could just come out and say it, but I didn't think I had the balls to do just that. Maybe I could tell her in a letter, that way it wouldn't be face to face. And then I remembered the love letter underneath my mattress. I had saved my love letter that I had written when I was a little boy. I never knew why I didn't throw it away; I guess my subconscious always believed that someday it could be delivered to its recipient.

Just when I had dug up the letter from its confines, I heard what appeared to be Bella and her date at her door. Very quietly I approached my door and listened to their conversation. I felt kind of bad for spying on them, that is, until I heard Bella tell him that she didn't think she could date him anymore. I started doing a happy dance Ellen would be proud of. Not that I would ever watch Ellen or anything, I've just been told.

This was perfect. For once everything was going my way. It was something I could get used to.

I quietly opened my door and walked up to Bella's. I laid the old envelope in front of the door and just as I was going to turn and walk away, I heard some steps behind me.

"Whatcha doin'?" A rather chipper Alice asked me.

"Shh!" I said as I clamped my hand on her mouth.

"You didn't answer my question," She said once I released her.

"Fine. Can you keep a secret," I whispered, knowing she wasn't going to let this thing slide.

"Of course."

"I want to give this to Bella, but I don't want her to know it's from me just yet. She has to figure it out by herself."

"Ok, so what is it?"

"It's a love letter I wrote for her ten years ago."

"You liked her back then too?"

"What do you mean 'too'?"

"It's pretty obvious to anyone with eyes that you are completely in love with her."

"Ok, but promise you won't tell her."

"But why? I'm pretty sure she likes you too. Why else would she not like Jacob?"

"I heard them brake up just now, but I don't want to tell her until I'm sure she likes me. I don't want to lose her again. This is just to test her, if she figures it out and comes find me, I'll come clean and tell her everything."

"Ok, I won't tell. And as romantic as I find this letter thing, I still think you should just tell her."

"I will, eventually."

Alice then walked back, as to not raise any suspicions, and I knocked on Bella's door and left for my room. And then I waited. And Waited. And waited some more. Finally about two hours later, or what felt like two hours later, I heard some noise on the hallway and I stuck my head outside my door. Alice then saw me as she was ushering Jasper inside.

"I thought we weren't going to hear from you guys in a long while," she said to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, not knowing what she was talking about.

"You and Bella; now that you're finally together I though you would be inseparable."

"I haven't seen Bella since the disaster date a little evil pixie planned."

"But Bella left our dorm like an hour ago."

"Did she tell you where she was going?"

"No, after she read your letter she left, and I just assumed she was going to talk to you."

"She could be anywhere by now!"

"Relax Edward, we can track Bella's phone."

"Well hurry up, what if something bad happens to her."

"I'm going, I'm going."

After messing with her phone for about two minutes she finally gave me the address of where Bella was. Faster than Speedy Gonzales himself, I was out on the road heading towards Bella. The Address Alice gave me was of a small playground, and at first I thought she was playing a rather cruel joke on me, but then I spotted Bella's old red truck in the parking lot. She appeared to be crying, which just made me step on the gas even harder just to be close to her sooner. I swiftly stopped my Volvo, the brakes screeching in protest, once I found a parking space close to her. The sound of the brakes made her look up, and although she had indeed been crying, when she saw me approach her, the biggest smile ever formed on her face.

"Bella, I'm so glad you're ok," I said as I finally reached her. I was a bit out of breath, because I had run with all my might to reach her faster.

"Edward, we need to talk," She said looking up at me.

"Me first," I said.

She was staring at me. Her brown eyes were sparkling under the moonlight. As I moved closer to her she tilted her head upward, and our noses grazed. She could probably feel my warm breath on her cheeks, since I could feel hers. I slowly continued moving closer and closer. My heart began to race faster. Suddenly, her hands gently held my face. She closed her eyes, and simultaneously, our lips touched. Softly at first, only for a second, but it felt like someone had lit fireworks in my stomach. Slowly, she became braver and opened her mouth before finishing the moment with a series of small kisses.

"Wow," was all I could manage to say.

"I know," she responded, clearly having enjoyed the kiss just as much as I did.

"So what was it that you wanted to tell me?" I asked her, because I wanted to know if we were on the same page.

"I frankly can't remember anymore," she said chuckling.

"I'm that good?" I responded and she lightly smacked me on my arm.

"That was by far the best kiss I've ever had," she answered honestly.

"Me too, and Bella, there is something that I want to tell you that I've been waiting a really long time to do."

"What is it?"

"For the longest time I was looking for something and I had no idea what that was. That is, until I saw you. I knew a long time ago that you were the one for me. It was just unfortunate that you had to leave, and thanks to my pigheadedness, we couldn't keep in touch. Now that I have you here, I have to tell you, Bella, that I love you. You are the love of my life and the only reason for my existence. I'll do anything necessary to prove it to you, to make myself worthy of you, even if it takes me the rest of my life."

"But you don't have to do anything, because Edward, I love you too. Before coming here I would fall asleep only in hopes of dreaming that everything would be like it was before I left, and you made it come true."

"After all this time, I never thought we'd be here. And you have to know that my love for you is blind, but I couldn't make you see it, that I loved you more than you will ever know, and a part of me died when I let you go. But now that I have you back, I will never let you go again."

"Good, because there is nowhere else I'd rather be."

_**Fin**_

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**A/N2: please go to www(dot)thewriterscoffeeshop(dot)com to see the rest of the entries to this contest. Next chapter will be up next week. Voting will start on Monday, November 30th, at the same website.**

**A/N3: Yes that is the end! I can't believe I actually finished, imagine all those authors with stories with over 10 chapters, I think that's going to be my next challenge. Anyways, for anyone wondering, the last things they say to each other are from the lyrics from the song. It wasn't required, but I thought it fit in there nicely. If you haven't heard the song I recommend that you do, you will get a better feel for what I was trying to say. And please review and let me know how you liked (or disliked) the ending. That's the thing I have the most trouble with and I would love to hear your opinions.**

**AND PLEASE HEAD OVER TO THE WEBSITE NEXT MONDAY AND VOTE, EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T LIKE MY STORY, THERE ARE MANY OTHERS, AND THEY'RE ALL REALLY GOOD!**


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